Superstitious football fans think Dimitri Payet brought bad luck on himself before Europa League final

Marseille's hopes of Europa League glory were dealt a major blow after half an hour of Wednesday's final.

Already trailing to Atletico Madrid - a side that know a thing or two about making life difficult for teams hoping to score against them - they lost their talisman, Dimitri Payet, to injury. The former West Ham star appeared to hurt his hamstring and was forced to leave the field of play in floods of tears during the first half. https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/status/996833646878384130 This was a bitter pill to swallow for Marseille's supporters and especially cruel for Payet. A star of France's European Championship side two years ago, the injury will now jeopardise his chances of being included in his national side's World Cup squad, which is due to be announced on Thursday. In the moments following his withdrawal, some on Twitter pointed out that Payet had touched the Europa League trophy as he walked on to the pitch at the start of the game - something any superstitious football fan will tell you is certain to bring you bad luck. https://twitter.com/centroMF/status/996836103960309760 https://twitter.com/DamianPopescu10/status/996835243205242881 https://twitter.com/rav16511/status/996836067658686464 https://twitter.com/CJShedlock/status/996836084402270209 https://twitter.com/Miiikey/status/996835409911955456 https://twitter.com/Jose_Araiza7/status/996835303355813888 Antoine Griezmann, Payet's international teammate, opened the scoring for Atleti shortly before Payet's exit, possibly in his final game for the club.